CATHOLIC CHURCH IN AJALLI AND THE SOCIAL CHANGES; 1927-2023

Abstract

Catholic Church one of the Christian denominations brought by the European Missionaries. It officially entered Ajalli community in the Present Orumba North Local Government Area of Anambra State officially in 1927. Ajalli community is one of all the communities in Orumba North and South Local Government Areas and the first community to accept the colonial masters; hence the community attained the status of colonial headquarters. The presence of the colonial authorities brought amenities, which acted as pull and push factor to the Catholic mission, which prompted them to move from Akpu to Ajalli. The presence of the Catholic mission had altered the traditional social values of Ajalli. These alterations have both sides of the coin-the negative and positive. The most negative and protracted of the changes had continued to be on the relationship existing between Ajalli community and her closest neighbor Akpu community. The two communities had continued to live in protracted enmity fuelled by the interest of the Catholic Church hence a contrary to her teaching of “love”. Historical method which employs the sourcing of data from oral and published materials was used in the paper. The finding shows that the coming of the Catholic mission in Ajalli, though had some commendable social changes, had also negative changes which underscored her preaching of “love”. This is evident in the lingering enmity existing between Ajalli and her closest neighbor Akpu community. Therefore, following the observation of Anyandele, Ajalli, Akpu and Catholic Church never hanker for spiritual dispensation.